


The Bleeding

by headwonk



Series: Doctor Who [3]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Angst, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Rape/Non-con Elements, Sentient TARDIS, Tardis comforts her thief as best she can, Team TARDIS, Team tardis comfort the doctor, Whump
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-07
Updated: 2019-07-24
Packaged: 2019-10-23 22:16:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 9
Words: 14,650
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17692118
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/headwonk/pseuds/headwonk
Summary: Things went a little differently during the Doctor's confontation with Krasko.





	1. Chapter 1

The Doctor adjusted her braces as she came up to the warehouse she knew Krasko's equipment to be in. Now that Krasko knew she and her friends were in 1955, he was sure to be hanging around there to make sure neither of them would return and try to put a stop to whatever he was doing.

As she stopped in front of the warehouse, she gave it a once over before opening the door and entering, shutting it quietly behind her once she was inside. Now in the cold warehouse, she absentmindedly looked around the large space for any sign of Krasko. She knew he must be there, guarding his tech, but she couldn't see him. He was most likely hiding until she let her guard down and he coukd catch her off-guard.

With her eye set on the small briefcase in the middle of the floor ahead of her, she quickly strode over to it and crouched down in front of it. She unbuckled the clasps and opened it up, checking that the equipment was still there. Luckily for her, it was. She closed the case again and put her head on the palm of her hand, deciding what to do know. Krasko hadn't shown his face yet, so she had to wait just a bit longer before she could put her plan into action.

The sound of gravel underfoot caught her attention immediately and she carely reached forward and grabbed the handle of Krasko's briefcase. She waited a moment, but when she didn't hear the noise again- not even the sound of Krasko's weapon firing up- she hesitated. With the briefcase in hand, she straightened up to her full height and turned around only to immediately jump in surprise.

Right in front of her, closer than she had realised, was Krasko. A long, metal pole was clasped tightly in his right hand and a smug, almost victorious smile, was present on his stupid face.

"Hello," the Doctor greeted awkwardly. She hadn't anticipated him being so close, nor did she consider that he wouldn't use his weapon to try and send her back in time. She was at a loss at what to do now. She could snatch the weapon and send the rest of his tech back in time. There wasn't much he could do with that neural restrictor in his brain. Something she had almost immediately realised he had when they'd first met.

Krasko made a sort of disgusted face when the Doctor greeted him, and his hand tightened on the metal pole, making his knuckles go white with the pressure. With an almost pained expression, Krasko brought the pole up quickly and forcefully, and brought it forward to make contact with the side of the Doctor's head. The latter's eyes widened in surpise, having not expected it. When the pole made contact, she crumpled to the concrete floor in a heap, unconsciousness taking her over.

With the deed done, Krasko let out a heavy breath in relief now that he didn't need to fight the neural restrictor anymore. Looking down at the woman on the floor, he sneered a bit. He then crouched down and reached inside her coat pocket to pull out the object she had previously scanned him with. When he pressed a button and it lit up with a noise emitting from it, he smirked. So he was right. A sonic screwdriver indeed.

He gripped the tool in his hand and aimed it at his head, pressing the button once more. The screwdriver made a noise that interrupted the silence of the warehouse, then it stopped as he moved the sonic screwdriver away from his head. Now he just needed to test if the screwdriver had done its job. He shoved it in his pocket and stood up. His eyes scanned the room casually until they landed on something that made him sick grin.

* * *

"Here, the Doc's been gone a while," Graham pointed out as he, Yaz, and Ryan met up. The latter had just returned from his evening with Rosa Parks, Martin Luthor King, and Rosa's husband. He'd merely served coffee, but he'd gained some knowledge from the evening. Graham had played a game of pool with James Blake and learned that the bus driver was going fishing instead of going to work.

"I know, wonder what's keeping her," Ryan said thoughtfully.

"She has been gone an awful long time," Yaz agreed, "I don't like this. What if she's in danger?"

"Didn't she say she was goin' to deal with that Krasko bloke?" Graham confirmed.

"Yeah. She was back goin' to the warehouse," Ryan nodded.

"Maybe we should go look for her," Yaz said worriedly.

"Good idea. If we're gonna get rid of Krasko and stop him interfering in history, we're gonna need her help," Graham said.

"Right, then, let's go. Ryan," Yaz nodded to her friend, already heading for the bathroom to exit through the window as Graham went for the front door. Sneaking out of the window in 1955 Alabama somehow didn't bother her anymore. She had more important things on her mind.

The last time they'd seen the Doctor was the night prior. They'd all gone back to the motel as a meeting point as it was too risky to go back to the TARDIS with Krasko hanging about, but the Doctor hadn't shown up. They'd decided to give her a bit more time as they didn't really know what she was doing, only that she was going to find Krasko, but now it was morning and she still hadn't returned.

When Yaz and Ryan had gone through the window, they were met with the sight of an anxious looking Graham. Neither of them wanted to get caught climbing out of a motel window, but somehow Yaz knew that's not what he was fussing over.

"I've got a bad feelin' about this," he said at her concerned look.

"Me too," Yaz agreed, "this isn't like the Doctor. She should've been back hours ago."

"We better get a move on then," Ryan stated, already making his way out of the alley behind the motel. Yaz and Graham were quick to follow him.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pre-warning for graphic depictions of rape and violence. Don't read this chapter if you're sensitive to that kind of stuff or if you'll be triggered by it.

The Doctor slowly blinked open her eyes then closed them again at the onslaught of bright lights attacking ger eyes. She took a deep breath in through her nose and prepared herself to open them again. When she did, the light thankfully didn't burn her eyes again.

She looked around in confusion, noting she was still in the warehouse. Krasko wasn't around anymore and she was still there. As she tried to get up, she noticed one of two things. One, her arms were tightly bound above her head to a table with thick rope, and two, there was a oily rag shoved in her mouth. In confusion, she tried to say something along the lines of 'what's going on?' but with the rag, it proved futile.

In her desperation to get away, she tried to pull her wrists out of the rope, but as they were tightly tied, they wouldn't budge. It didn't help that the table she was tied to was bolted to the floor. She couldn't do anything about that, either. The sudden empty feeling of her pockets was an indicator that her sonic screwdriver was no longer in them.

As she sat there, she tried to assess the situation and her options. The most obvious thing was that she was tied with nowhere to go, but she could work through that. She had escaped worse in the past. Maybe she could try and pull her hands free, no matter how much it hurt. If she didn't and Krasko was able to stop Rosa Parks from refusing to give up her seat, then who knows what damage he would do? She could wait for her new friends to come and find her, but that would take too long and they didn't have much time.

With that thought in mind, she mentally prepared herself for the pain that would surely come with pulling her hands free. It wouldn't be the first time she'd done it in her extremely long life, and it probably wouldn't be the last.

The Doctor took a deep breath and started pulling on the ropes digging into her wrists. Her new, feminine wrists. That would take some getting used to. Over two thousand years of being a man, and now she was a woman. It was probably Missy's fault, she mused as she continued pulling at the ropes.

Just as they were starting to burn her wrists with the friction, a voice spoke up, "I wouldn't do that, if I were you."

The Doctor huffed as much as she could around the rag, not bothering to look up at Krasko. He chuckled and stepped forward, crouching down when he reached her so they were eye level. Still, she didn't look up, opting to glare at the floor between her legs.

Suddenly, his hand was gripping her shoulder tightly in an effort to stop her from trying to get free of the ropes.

"I said, I wouldn't do that if I were you," he repeated, more sternly this time. Finally, she faced him, her expression one of annoyance more than anger or hatred towards him.

Krasko reached onto his inner coat pocket and pulled out an object that made the Doctor let out a breath of anxiety.

"I am loving this, by the way," Krasko said, examing the sonic screwdriver in his hand, "a very useful tool. I thought it was a sonic screwdriver when I saw it, but I had to be sure. I needed something to test it on, and what a better subject than the neural restrictor in my brain?"

The Doctor's hearts fell and a bit of fear welled up in the pit of her stomach, but she tried not to show it on her face.

"Ah, I see you know what that is," Krasko noted, taking in the look on her face no matter how she tried to hide it. "So you'll know I have no problems doing this," he continued and quickly reached up a hand to grab her throat. The Doctor choked and gasped desperately, her current situation not made any better with the oily rag in her mouth.

Krasko let go of her throat, giving her time to take in big lungfuls of air through her nose. Whatever he had planned for her, he certainly didn't want her dead. That much was obvious.

With what looked like boredom, Krasko stood up straight and started pacing in front of her. He put the sonic back in his pocket as he did.

"You've been out a while. It's given me some time to decide what to do with you. You see, I can't have you messing up my plans. I'm sure you know what they are by now. You're not stupid, as much as I hate to admit it," Krasko started, "I could just kill you, of course. It wouldn't weigh very heavily on my conscience, but I have a feeling killing you is just too easy."

The Doctor grinned around the rag. He didn't know anything.

"So, I've come up with a some options. One that stands out above all others," Krasko stopped and turned to face her. The Doctor furrowed her brows in confusion.

Krasko knelt down in front of her again and reached for one of her boots. He undid the laces and slipped the boot off, tossing it to the side. He repeated the process with her other shoe. The Doctor's brows were still furrowed.

"For a grown woman, you dress like a child," Krasko said with disdain, eyeing her clothes. The Doctor chuckled behind the rag, not seeing that as an insult.

Suddenly, with force, Krasko grabbed her ankles and pulled her down so she was on her back rather than sat up. She made a noise of disapproval behind the rag as her wrists were yanked. Krasko pulled both her blue socks off and tossed them to the side.

Finally, blessedly, her mind clicked into place and joined the dots. She saw where he was going with what he was doing. As he was reaching up to unclip her braces and trousers, she started fighting back. She kicked him forcefully in the chest with her foot, taking pleasure when he grunted and stopped his pursuit for a moment. She continued the assault, not giving him time to undress her. She was sure at one point she'd kicked his jaw, but she couldn't be sure as she wasn't stopping for anything.

Krasko growled in annoyance at her continued beatings and scrambled around for a moment until he had her ankles in her hands to stop her from kicking him again. That didn't stop her, though. She tried to pull her legs free, but he held them tightly. Eventually, she stopped fighting, her breaths heavy and angry.

"It would be easier for both of us," Krasko started levelly, "if you were to stop fighting."

The Doctor shook her head in defiance because  _no_ ,  _she wouldn't stop fighting._ She'd been a woman barely five minutes and already she was being take advantage of. If this is what her female companions had to face on a day to day basis, then she would be sure to keep a better eye on them, not let them out of her sight, make sure they knew she now  _understood_  and she was  _sorry_.

With the Doctor now mostly subdued, Krasko continued his task of undoing and removing her trousers. Her trousers that her new best friends had picked out for her. If she focused on positive thoughts, maybe it would all be over with soon and she could get back to stopping Krasko. Sending him back to where he belongs.

"Are these boxer shorts?" Krasko suddenly asked with a chuckle, making the Doctor blush furiously and close her eyes. She hadn't felt too comfortable yet picking out female underwear, so when Ryan (awkwardly) mentioned that women also had pants that look like men's boxers, she'd jumped on the opportunity to get some.

Krasko's nails lightly scratched her hips when he pulled the underwear down, exposing her new parts to the cold air of he warehouse. The fight suddenly came back to her and she angrily kicked Krasko again, once again having to be stopped when he grabbed her ankles. "What did I say?" He growled. There was a burning feeling behind her eyes that the Doctor desperately blinked away for fear of showing weakness to the disgusting man in front of her.

When Krasko stood up to start unbuckling his own trousers, the Doctor squeezed her legs closed and turned away with her eyes closed. She let her mind wander to her new friends, imagining all the places she could take them when all of this was over. She was sure Graham would like Space Florida, being the laid back man he is. It was just a matter of asking them if they wanted to travel with her in the first place, she realised with a sigh.

Krasko's cold hands back on her ankles brought her back to the harsh reality where she  _wasn't_ taking Graham to Space Florida. She risked a glance over at him and immediately wished she hadn't. He was completely naked from the waist down and had removed his leather jacket. His clothes sat on a pile on the floor much like her own. The most obvious thing was his large member between his legs standing to attention.

The Doctor quickly closed her eyes and looked away again, desperately trying to grasp some more thoughts to distract her. Her mind wandered to the new feature on her TARDIS- the custard cream dispenser. Her new body loved those biscuits, and she was forever grateful for her Old Girl-

A pained screamed ripped from her throat, muffled by the rag, and her eyes flew open in alarm at a sudden intrusion below. She looked down with teary eyes to see Krasko was buried deep inside her, his hands holding a bruising grip on her hips. Following the scream, she let out a harsh sob, trying to back away from him only to be held firm.

She was sure sex wasn't suppose to feel like this nor was it supposed to take place under these kinds of circumstances, and she desperately tried to understand why Krasko was doing this. What kind of pleasure could he gain from forcing her to engage in these kinds of acts? Of all the things he could have done to show her not to mess with him, why was he doing  _this_?

Krasko pumped in and out of her new sex, ignoring her pained screams of her first time being unwilling and forced upon her. It was slow at first, but it soon picked up and became more rough when Krasko got into it. He let go of her hip with one hand and reached up. His hand slipped under her new shirts and grabbed one of her breasts, squeezing and fondling it roughly. She moaned her protests, but he didn't listen.

Just when she thought he might be finished, he slowly pulled out of her, leaving a horrible yet relieving feeling between her legs from where he had previously been inside her. She shuffled as far away from him as she could get, ending up in a sitting position again and leant against the table leg she was tied to. His penis was still hard and no matter where she looked, she could still see it in her peripheral vision.

Krasko reached forward and yanked the rag out of her mouth. She licked her lips to moisten them as they'd gone dry from having the fabric in her mouth for god-knows how long.

"Take it," Krasko said, and held his member at her mouth. The Doctor looked at him, avoiding the long pole in front of her.

"I don't think so, mate," she said, her voice hoarse from screaming and yelling obscenities his way.

"I think you're forgetting who's in control here. Put in your mouth, or I find somewhere else for it to go," he said coldly. Despite the threat lingering in the air, the Doctor kept her mouth closed and looked away from his piercing gaze.

Krasko growled and reached a hand down her shirt where he found one of her erect nipples. He pinched it hard, making her gasp. She then gagged in response to him shoving his dick in her open mouth.

"Bite down and I'll go after your pretty, little friend," Krasko warned her with seriousness. The Doctor closed her eyes and nodded slightly, showing she understood. She would take whatever Krasko was dishing out so long as Yaz didn't get hurt.

As her wrists were tied, Krasko did most of the work. He moved his hips back and forth, pumping his throbbing dick in and out of her mouth. She gagged quite a few times when the tip of his member forced its way down her throat, but he seemed to enjoy the gagging if his moans were anything to go by.

"Fuck," Krasko gasped and tightly tangled one of his hands in her hair, "that's it."

The Doctor got the sudden urge to bite down despite his threats, but she couldn't let Yaz get hurt so she held back the urge and let him use her.

Krasko's moans amplified in volume and he became more erratic when fucking her mouth so she tightly closed her eyes, knowing what was coming. With a few more hitched moans, Krasko came in her mouth, causing her to choke on the liquid spilling into her mouth.

He then pulled his still-hard member out of her mouth and slapped her cheek with it. She glared angrily at him and prepared to spit the cum out.

"Swallow it," he ordered her, grabbing her jaw. The Doctor frowned but obeyed, swallowing it with a disgusted expression. When it was gone from her mouth, Krasko let go of her jaw and stepped back with a statisfied smile.

"You're disgusting," the Doctor told him. Krasko hmph-ed, but didn't say anything else.

"Lie down," he told her, pointing to the floor. When she visibly hesitated, he let out a low chuckle. "You know, I'm starting to think you  _want_ me to go after your friend. Am I right?"

With her jaw clenched tightly and an angry glare in his direction, the corners of her eyes wet from tears, the Doctor slowly shuffled onto her back again.


	3. Chapter 3

Ryan, Graham, and Yaz tredged towards the large warehouse in the distance. It'd taken them about an hour to get there from the motel, and they still hadn't seen or heard from the Doctor on their way. Either she really was still in the warehouse or they'd missed her.

Neither of them had a good feeling about the entire situation and it had nothing to do with being in 1955 Alabama and facing a racist who wanted to stop history from happening.

They'd only known the Doctor for a short while, but even they knew that this was unlike her. She should've been back ages ago with new information to share, and a plan. But she wasn't.

"I feel sick," Ryan said quietly, a hand going to his stomach.

"It's the nerves. I ain't much better," Graham told him, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. Thankfully Ryan didn't shove it off, and allowed the comfort for a short moment before Graham removed it himself.

"We're nearly there," Yaz helpfully pointed out, "I can see the door." She was right, they were nearing the warehouse by the second, coming up to the rusty barrells they'd hidden behind during their first confrontation with Krasko.

Suddenly Ryan stopped in his tracks and held an arm out to stop the other two from going any further. "Hold on, someone's coming out," he said, shoving a finger in the direction of the door which was definitely opening. They all shuffled back a bit, repeating the process of hiding behind the barrells so they could get a look at who it was coming from the warehouse.

They hid there, Ryan peaking around the corner, for only a few seconds before the person exiting came into view in the daylight, wincing at the natural light and looking positively ragged. Before Ryan could even tell the others two who it was, the person leant against the wall with one hand and hunched over, harshly shoving two fingers down their throat and throwing up as much as they could in a small brush.

"Oh, my God," he muttered at the sight. He turned to Graham and Yaz, "it's the Doctor, come on."

With that, he left his hiding place and started running over to their friend with the other two following him without hesitation.

They reached the Doctor in no time at all abd Ryan was quick to gently place a hand on her shoulder to let her know they were there. What he didn't expect was for her to jump a mile and hastily put her pinky against his throat, instantly immobilising him somehow.

"It's just us, Doc!" Graham quickly told her the second her finger was put against Ryan's throat.

The Doctor pulled her finger away from his throat in shock, quickly apologising to him in a hoarse voice. She pulled her hands into herself, wringing them anxiously and refusing to meet their eyes.

"Blimey, Doc, what happened to you?" Graham asked. "Did that Krasko bloke do this to you? Where is he? I'm gonna show him what for."

Ryan didn't miss the way the Doctor winced at Krasko's name and tightly clasp her hands so they went paler than usual. Her eyes were red-rimmed from apparent crying, there was some light bruising around her throat in what looked to be the shape of a hand, her wrists had friction burn around them, and her clothes looked rustled and creased as if they'd been lying on the floor for hours. Even her shoes were on the wrong feet for some reason.

"No," the Doctor said quickly, "it's okay. We just need to stop him from interfering with history and get out of here."

"No offense, Doc, but you look like you've been through the wringer. If there's anything we should be doing, it's making sure you're alright."

"I'm  _fine_ , Graham."

"Let's go back to the TARDIS and get you checked over, yeah? You must have a medbay in there somewhere," Graham suggested, ignoring her protests.

"Graham," the Doctor said slowly, "I am fine. He's trying to make sure Rosa Parks doesn't refuse to give up her seat- we need to stop."

Ryan didn't miss the way the Doctor refused to say Krasko's name or the way she started subtly scratching her hands in what seemed to be a way to calm herself.

"Doctor," Ryan finally inputted with unabashed concern, putting all the pieces together though he wished he hadn't, "did Krasko... did he rape you?" From the corner of his eye he saw Graham blanch and Yaz gulp, slight tears coming to her eyes. Most importantly, though, he saw the Doctor's breath hitch and her skin turn a few shades paler if that were possible.

"No. He did nothing of the sort," the Doctor denied, shaking her head far too harshly in denial. "Now, we need to go and stop him. We don't have much time. What are you doing here anyway? I thought we were meeting at the motel?"

"We came to look for you," Yaz said, "we were supposed to meet hours ago."

The Doctor sighed and closed her eyes in annoyance.

"We were worried," Yaz continued, "and now it seems we were right to be. What did he do to you, Doctor?"

"Nothing! He did nothing!" The Doctor suddenly exploded before noticing our shocked looks and forcing herself to calm down. "Look, I'm fine, you lot. Stop worrying and help me get rid of him before he changes history, okay?"

The three hesiated, not wanting to change the subject. Knowing the Doctor, after this she'd probably refuse to bring it up again and would pretend everything's fine  _once again._  There was nothing much they could do at the moment, though. She was right. If they didn't do something now, Krasko would fuck things up entirely.

"Fine," Ryan said levelly, "but once this is all over, we're talking. Okay?"

The Doctor clenched her jaw tightly, looking like she wanted to refuse, but seeing the seriousness on each of her friend's faces, she finally nodded.

"Good, come on then," Ryan said and started walking away, leaving the warehouse behind them. "Oh, and you might wanna change your shoes around. They're on the wrong feet."


	4. Chapter 4

Ryan's POV;

The Doctor paced in front of us, looking like a caged animal. Her breaths were much too fast, even for two hearts, and her hands were shaking. She muttered to herself here and there, trying to assess the current situation. On one of the beds lay something that definitely didn't belong to this time zone.

Finally the Doctor stopped pacing, her breaths much calmer after some kind of mental conversation with herself.

"Right, so what've we got?" She asked us. I turned to the other two, wondering if they'd speak first. I didn't trust myself to say anything unless it involved the Doctor's current condition and state of mind.

"James Blake is takin' the day off," Graham spoke up, noticing my worried looks. He knew the we needed to sort Krasko out, and to do that we needed the Doctor's help which meant she needed to be distracted from whatever had gone on in the warehouse.

Yaz turned away from the papers in he hands to look at Graham. "What?" She asked. "But he can't!"

"That's what I said," Graham shook his head. "Strangely, he didn't listen. This Krasko bloke is interfering. He's reassigned Blake's route to a driver called... Elias Griffin Jr," he continued, taking a moment to remember the other bus driver's name.

The Doctor looked down, hand flying to her face and sighing. "Tiny actions," she said, looking up at them, "that's what he's doing."

I once again noticed the aversion to Krasko's name. The Doctor still refused to let the word get passed her lips and out into the air.

"He's clever, I'll give him that," the Doctor said, resuming her pacing. "He's not planning on killing, or destroying or breaking history," she continued, her hands gesturing in front of her but without her usual manic energy, "he's planning to nudge it just enough so that it doesn't happen. Enough of a stick in the spokes to throw everything off the rails- and now I'm really mixing my transport metaphors," she rambled, some of her child-like personality coming back now that her mind was distracted from whatever had happened, "but he didn't reckon with us keepin' it in place!"

"And how do we do that, then?" Yaz asked the Doctor.

The Doctor looked at all three of us, "now we know what our task is," she said as Graham sat down on the edge of one of the beds. "Keep history in order," she explained. "No changing it, just guarding it against someone who wants to disrupt it. Tomorrow, we have to make sure Rosa Parks gets on the bus driven by James Blake. And that the bus is full, so that Rosa sits when she's asked to stand for white passangers-"

I touched a button on the supposed weapon the Doctor has stolen from Krasko, making it beep.

"-Ryan, don't mess with that!" She warned me and stepped a little closer.

"How does even work?" I asked.

She pointed to a few features as she was allowed the opportunity to explain, "charges here, this setting dials the temporal destination. Pretty simple, pretty deadly." She snatched the device from my hands and tossed it on he bed behind me. "Now, can we concentrate?" It was a rhetorical question used to distract her mind, disguised as concern for getting Krasko out of the way. The concern she had was real- I knew that- but her want to ramble on and on, and not stop for fear of letting her mind wander was even clearer.

"How are we supposd to keep history in order if James Blake is gonna go fishing at Mill Creek and another driver is lined up to do his route?" Graham spoke up.

An idea quickly came to my head and I lookes at the Doctor, "I've got an idea."

"I've got an idea," Yaz said at the same time as me.

"Same idea?" The Doctor asked us.

"Raffle winner," Yaz suggested.

"Fishing takedown," I said and looked at Yaz when I realised what she'd said. She looked at me.

"Oh, I think both could work!" The Doctor told us brightly, making us smile. "Yaz, you and I will go see Elias Griffin Jr about a raffle prize, and Graham and Ryan, you two will go to Mill Creek and get James Blake to change his mind about havin' the day off. It doesn't matter how you do it, just so long as you do."

"What raffle prize are we goin' to offer Elias Griffin Jr?" Yaz questioned the Doctor.

"I know just the thing!"

Yaz's POV;

The Doctor had the brilliant idea of offering the bus driver Elias Griffin Jr front row tickets to see Frank Sinatra. The man was overjoyed and jumped on the opportunity to go and see the singer live. If I'm being honest, I would have too. I don't know how the Doctor has all these connections to famous people, but it does come in handy when you're in dire situations suh as the one we were in.

We both walked down Elias' path, heading away from the house as the Doctor spoke about Elvis Presley lending Frank Sinatra the phone she'd given him. It was a good job he did, apparently.

We stopped on the pathway leading to Elias' house. "We need to stick tight to Rosa," the Doctor said seriously. Then, she reached down and grabbed the bottom of her coat. With a mighty tug, she made a large tear in the light blue coat. I gawped, startled by her determination. She shrugged the coat off, staring at the rip she'd made.

Whilst she stared at the rip, I found my eyes drifing back to the friction burns on her wrists. Without the coat to mostly cover them up, they were now in plain sight with how short her undershirt sleeves are. The sunlight shone on us both, illuminating the injuries.

I took a deep breath and prepared to get blocked out again like before, "those look painful, Doctor," I noted, looking pointedly at her wrists. She started walking down the path, presumably heading to Rosa's store.

"Not really," she denied, but I noticed she absentmindedly brought her left hand to nurse her right wrist.

"How did you get them?" I asked, playing dumb. "Looks like rope burn to me."

"Uh, yeah," she nodded, "it is."

I nodded my own head and looked down. It seemed I was getting somewhere, but the feeling that she would soon shut me out still lingered.

"You know you can tell me anything right?" I suddenly asked, changing tactics. Something I'd learned during police training. Make sure the person you're dealing with knows it wasn't their fault. "I know we haven't known each other all that long, but we've been through a lot together- us, Ryan, and Graham. We'd try and understand as best we could."

The Doctor stared at me curiously for what seemed like the longest time, scrutinising me with her eyes, but not unkindly. After a long moment, she turned back to the path in front of her and determinedly examined the coat in her hands as if it were the first time she was seeing it.

"Yeah, I do," she said, answering my question.

"So," I started, putting my hands in my back pockets, "do you wanna tell me what happened in the warehouse? Like I said, I'm not here to judge you. I'm here to listen and try and understand as best I can."

Beside me, the Doctor moved her gaze from the pale blue coat and focused on the ground. Then she looked up and her eyes caught something in the distance. "We need to get this coat to Rosa Parks. Come on, I can see her shop," she said, picking up the pace and ultimately ignoring my question. I sighed worriedly and tried to keep up with her.


	5. Chapter 5

"I came back from the creek for this?" James asked. "Four flat tires and a smashed-in windshield? What the hell happened?"

The man beside him, Krasko wearing a mechanics jumpsuit with his white shirt underneath, simply answered, "kids."

"Well, I can't drive that," James stated obviously, his hat tucked under his arm.

"Oh, no, you go on home," Krasko told James, "we'll cancel the route."

James nodded and started leaving, "so much for that protest. This bus ain't going anywhere," he spoke as he left. Krasko smirked at his retreating form and started after him.

Graham, crouched behind a rusty, old car with Ryan, peeked his head up to watch them leave. When they were a safe distance away, he turned to Ryan, "do you hear that? Everything we do, Krasko's a step ahead. He must've deliberately smashed up that bus himself."

"We've gotta fix this," Ryan stated just as they both spotted the Doctor rushing over to them from behind another car. Both Graham and Ryan were relieved that Krasko was already gone. Who knows what could have happened. "James Blake has got to drive Rosa's bus home tonight," Ryan continued as the Doctor reached the car and crouched down with them.

"Rught, well, he ain't givin' up that easy," Graham pointed out.

"Well, neither are we," the Doctor said. Both granddad and grandson could see her hands shaking as she gestured, despite her trying to control it. They figured she must have been behind that car a while, but stayed hidden.

"Ryan, check every bus stop along Blake's route," the Doctor ordered, "tell the waiting passengers that the bus is coming and they have to wait."

"Okay," Ryan nodded. It was easy enough.

"Do not let any of the passengers walk," the Doctor reiterated, "the bus has to be full. It has to be crowded enough so that Rosa is expected to move."

"Right, got it," Ryan said and got up to leave, but not before Graham gave him an encouraging pat on the shoulder. He rushed off just as the Doctor turned to his granddad.

"Now, Graham," the Doctor said seriously.

"Mm-hmm," Graham said, showing he was listening. He looked up to see her looking at him with her 'idea face'. A small ball of dread welled up in his stomach. He couldn't be sure what she had in mind, but he knew it would be ridiculous yet somehow work.

"Are you thinkin' what I'm thinkin'?" She asked him.

"That depends on what you're thinkin', Doc," Graham pointed out. She smiled a bit, and he was glad to see a bit of life return to her. He had no desire to see her in the state she was in when they found her at the warehouse.

"We need a bus," she stated obviously.

"An' how do you propose we get one?" He questioned.

Suddenly she stood to her full height, "come on."

Graham followed the Doctor somewhere different from where they'd seen Krasko and James Blake. He wasn't sure exactly where she was leading him, just that they were going to get a bus.

They came up to a big-ish building that had several yellow and green buses outside, all identical to the ones that James Blake drove. Graham's brow furrowed in confusion, unsure of how the Doctor was going to get one.

He stopped behind her when she froze, her eyes scanning the immediate area. When she seemed to be satisfied, she ran forward to one of the buses and stopped outside the doors. He followed her, still in the dark.

From inside her trouser pockets, she pulled out her sonic screwdriver and aimed it at the doors. The sonic buzzed familiarly and the bus made that hissing sound that buses do, then the doors dutifully slid open.

The Doctor grinned at him and climbed aboard the bus, stepping up the steps until she plonked herself down on the driver's seat. Graham gaped for a moment, still outside the bus.

"Come on, Graham," the Doctor said as if she weren't about to steal a bus from right outside the depot. Graham shook his head guiltily and climbed into the bus. The doors shut behind him when the Doctor pulled the lever.

The sonic was once again pulled out and aimed at the bus, but this time when it whirred, something sparked. The Doctor looked awkwardly at the dashboard, trying to find the cause of the sparking. When she didn't see anything, she shrugged and continued with her sonic-ing until the bus stuttered to life.

"Aha!" She grinned, repocketing her tool and slipping out of the driver's seat. "You know how to drive a bus, right?" She immediately demanded of Graham.

"Well, yeah, but-" he started, put on the spot and his mouth still hanging open in surprise.

"Brilliant! Here you are," the Doctor interrupted, grabbing his shoulders and shuffling him over to sit at the wheel. "Right, now, we just need to take this bus to James Blake and get him to do his route," she continued, repositioning herself on one of the passenger seats. "Step on it, Graham," she said, pulling him out of his reverie.

...

Graham slowly pulled up to the curb where James Blake stood, easing down on the brakes. "Nicking and hot-wiring a bus from right outside the depot? Hope our friendly cop don't hear about his," he said mostly to himself as the Doctor quickly hopped up from her seat and rushed out the doors once he'd opened them.

"What in the hell?!" James Blake demanded of them both when Graham joined the Doctor on the pavement. He didn't miss the way the Doctor flinched at the sudden shouting.

"This is your replacement bus service," the Doctor explained shakily, recovering from the shock.

"Jim boy!" Graham exclaimed, grinning at James. He hoped to take James' attention away from the Doc. Thankully it worked.

"You again?!" James quipped, disbelieving.

"I know," Graham chuckled, "I literally get everywhere now. Come on, hop in and do your job."

"You're already 18 minutes behind schedule," the Doctor informed James more firmly now.

"How do you know that?" James asked with confusion. "What's going on? What happened to that damned sit-in? Nobody else knew anything about it."

"Love to explain all of that to you, but you know us Brits- very imperious, not prone on explaining ourselves to anyone," the Doctor said more forcefully, keen to get him on the bus and doing his route. "So, no time to chat. Just get driving," she demanded, pointing to the bus, "lot of people need to get on this bus tonight."

Finally, blessedly, James listened to her and silently got on the bus and in the driver's seat. The Doctor and Graham let out relieved sighs.

"Driver James Blake, behind the wheel. Check," she quietly said to Graham and got on the bus herself with the latter following suit.

...

Graham and the Doctor sat silently on the bus. Graham was looking at the passengers, who knows what the Doctor was looking it. Something out the window it seemed.

The bus was slowly filling up, but not as much as it should be. There was still quite a few empty seats. As two more passengers boarded, Graham got up and moved to a seat parrallel to the Doctor's so they could talk better.

"Hey, Doc, I don't wanna be alarmist," he started, "but this bus seems a bit emptier than last night."

The Doctor looked at him, then turned to look around the rest of the bus. Her eyes fell on a couple seats behins her that were empty. A wooden plaque with the word 'WHITE' engraved sat above it.

"Ah, no. That's bad. We need the bus to be full," she stated anxiously. A hand rested on her stomach to quell her nerves. "Come on, Ryan," she whispered to herself as Graham turned to look at the bus again.

The doors opened again, and this time Yaz got on with the Doctor's coat in her arms and Rosa Parks behind her.

"Yaz, you're here!" The Doctor exclaimed thankfully. "How's it going?"

"Mrs Parks fixed your coat," Yaz told the Doctor, handing the pale blue coat to her and taking a seat beside Graham.

The Doctor looked up and spotted Rosa paying the bus fair and looking at her. "Oh, thank you, Mrs Parks. Beautiful work," she said with a smile.

"You're welcome, ma'am," Rosa said. Her eyes lifted up to look at the rest of the bus. She frowned and turned to get off and use the other door. The Doctor got up with a sigh and started putting on her coat.

"Don't shut the door, don't drive off!" A panicked voice yelled from outside the bus just as the Doctor sat down again. "One more comin' on!"

Ryan stumbled into the bus and leant over, panting with heavy breaths. He held the device the Doctor had told him not to mess with in his hands.

"Found you," he panted, looking at them. "I just got rid of Krasko."

The Doctor tensed up at the name, her hands grabbing the ends of her sleeves and resting stiffly in her lap.

"How?" Graham asked, seeing the Doctor wouldn't.

"I borrowed this," he held up the weapon, sending an apologetic look at the Doctor. "I think I dialed the settings back as far back as it can go. He's gone."

Having had enought of their chatting, James Blake spoke up, addressing Ryan, "use the door for coloureds."

Ryan turned to him with a raised eyebrow and pulled a coin out of his pocket. He cockily put the money into the machine and gave one last look at James Blake before stepping off the bus to use the back entrance.

"Law's the law," James said as he left.

As Ryan came in through the other door, the Doctor spoke to Yaz and Ryan, "let's move back."

She got up and led the way down to the other end of the bus where she sat down on some other seats that were much closer to Ryan. The doors closed when they were all settled, and the bus drove off again.

They stayed silent for a while, hoping their work wouldn't be in vain until Graham finally said something.

He turned to the Doctor, "hey, Doc, Rosa's on board, Blake's drivin'- we're good right?"

The Doctor didn't answer, merely continued looking around the bus.

"What's the matter? What're you doing?" Yaz asked.

"Counting seats," the Doctor told her, going back to her counting.

Yaz frowned, worry welling up inside her. If they hadn't done enough, the future would change. Nothing would be like she was used to. People with their skin colour would never get the opportunities that she and Ryan currently have. They'd never get a black president, slavery might possibly still exist, their work would be for nought.

"Has it worked? Have we done enough?" She asked the Doctor.

"I'm not sure," the Doctor said truthfully, turning to look at her.

"We get off at the next stop, right?" Prompted Graham. Yaz leaned forward to get a look out the window.

"Empire Theatre, yeah," she smiled, relieved.

The bus came to a steady halt next to the Empire Theatre bus stop. The doors slowly creaked open and in came two new passengers.

Graham, thankul to be finished with their work, immediately stood up and made to leave. "Right, come on, then. We can go, job done, history's safe," he said. He stood flush against a chair to let one of the new passengers pass.

The Doctor's mouth fell open slightly and she looked around the bus.

"Well, come on then," Graham urged, wanting nothing more than to leave.

"Doctor?" Yaz asked.

The Doctor turned her attention to Graham. "Don't get off, Graham," she ordered seriously. Graham looked at Yaz on confusion. "If we get off, there's enough empty seats for white passengers. Rosa won't be asked to move. We have to stay on."

"We were here. We're part of the story," Yaz realised, "part of history."

"No, no, no," Graham protesed sadly, "I don't wanna be part of this."

"We have to, I'm sorry," the Doctor told him in understanding. "We have to not help her." With that said, the Doctor leaned back in her seat and tilted her head down to look at the floor, not wanting to be part of it as much as Graham.

"I'm gonna need those seats back there," James Blake called out from the front of the bus. "Y'all better make it light on yourselves and let me have those seats," he continued when no one moved.

At that, a couple of black women wearing smart clothes got up, their purses clutched in their hands, and moved to the back of the bus where they stood. A black man sat next to Rosa Parks stood up to move to the back, prompring Rosa to stand and let him passed. He shuffled around her and obediently made his way to the back of the bus.

When the man had moved, Rosa pointedly stared at James Blake for a moment then defiantly sat back in her seat, resting her purse on her lap.

Suddenly furious, James Blake quickly got up from his seat and stormed over to Rosa Parks. He took a 'WHITE' sign from another seat and placed it above hers.

"Stand up now," he ordered harshly. Rose looked up at him from her seat.

"I don't think I should have to," Rosa shook her head.

"Are you going to stand up?!" James suddenly shouted, making the Doctor flinch in her seat, her hearts beating erratically. Graham turned away from the scene to look at her momentarily. She ignored his gaze.

"No," Rosa told Blake angrily, tearing Graham's attention away from the Doctor.

"If you don't stand, I'm gonna have you arrested," James said in a level voice laced with anger.

Ryan and Yaz shared worried looks whilst Rosa didn't take her eyes off of Blake for one second. "You may do that," she told him. Blake let out a breath of infuriated air and turned tail to stomp off the bus.

When he was outside, he marched over to the public telephone which he took off the handle and used to dial 911.

* * *

 The humans settled in, in the TARDIS' kitchen, listening to the calm whirring of the sentient ship. It had been a tough couple of days, what with being part of Rosa Parks' story and having to stand back and do nothing whie she was arrested. But it had all been worth it in the long run. That was something they had all eventually come to terms with.

As much as they all wanted to get home, they were all exhausted. They'd rented a motel room, sure, but with Krasko's constant threat and history about to be changed, they hadn't gotten much sleep so they'd decided that before the Doc took them home, they'd get some shuteye.

No one had seen the Doctor since she'd shown them the asteroid named  _Rosa Parks_  and told them where the kitchen and bedrooms were when they'd mentioned how tired they were. Despite having mentioned before that her species barely needed sleep, they somehow knew that she would be in her room somewhere on her ship.

They all knew she was still undoubtedly hurting following her encounter with Krasko, and probably wanted time to herself, but the humans were determined to get her to open up to them and tell them what had happened. It wasn't healthy to keep running from the subject and keeping to herself. Even if she didn't want to  _talk_ about it, she could at least let them know what Krasko had done, or even simply let them comfort her.

"You think we should go talk to the Doctor?" Ryan asked slowly.

"I dunno," Yaz said, "she might not even wanna talk to us. I mean, we've barely known her five minutes."

"Yeah, but she did say she would tell us what happened," Ryan pointed out. "And can't exactly leave her alone right now, can we?"

"I think you're right, son," Graham agreed, "but do we even know where her room is? She said this ship was alive, who's to say it won't just keep moving whenever we get close?"

Ryan slowly stood from his chair, "well, if it is alive and it loves the Doctor as much as she loves it, then it will understand that we need to do this and let us find her."

With that said, he left the kitchen without another word. Yaz and Graham shared a silent look before they both nodded and got up from their seats and made to follow Ryan.


	6. Chapter Six

The second the Doctor reached her room, she threw off her coat, slipped off her boots, and climbed onto her large bed. Grabbing one of the many cushions, she brought it into herself and squeezed it tight against her in a desperate embrace.

Her hearts were beating wildly now that she had time to think over what had happened in the warehouse with Krasko. There were no more distractions to keep her from repeating the events over and over in her mind, to take her mind off the light throbbing pain that still ached between her legs even hours later. Perhaps she should have stayed with her fam as a distraction.

The Doctor quickly stood up and rushed to her en suite, courtesy of the TARDIS as it hadn't been there before today. What she needed was a shower- not a distraction. She needed to clean herself and get out of her clothes that were stained with dust and grease from the cold warehouse floor.

Closing the door behind her for good measure, the Doctor turned on the walk-in shower and let it run while she got out of her clothes. As she did so, she found herself looking in the mirror above the sink. She hadn't realised what her friends were talking about when they'd been worried about her, but now she could see. The bruising around her throat in the shape of Krasko's hand was fierce and visible from any angle. As she lifted up her hand to lightly press the blue and purple markings, she was reminded once again of the rope burn around her wrists. She quickly brought her hand back down and breathed out an annoyed breath. She had some cream in the medbay that would get rid of injuries quite quickly, but she would have to put it on after her shower.

After removing the rest of her clothes and tossing them in the hamper for the TARDIS to send to the laundry room, the Doctor stepped into the shower and under the running water. It was hot and at first the Doctor stepped away in mild shock, but after getting used to it, she went back under and let it run over her, washing away all the grime from her stay in nineteen-sixties Alabama. It was easy to simply blame all the dirt she'd picked up on the era she'd been to, but the slightly pink tinge to the water flowing down the drain wasn't so easy to write off.

Looking for the source of the blood mixing with the water, the Doctor found several small cuts on her hips and thighs. They were crescent shaped, an obvious sign that they were nail marks. There was some dried blood around them all and the Doctor clenched her jaw as she reached for a blue coloured loofah and squirted a generous amount of shower gel on it.

She quickly got to work scrubbing away at the dried blood and any other injuried, whether they were dirty or not.

The Doctor couldn't believe how stupid she'd been, she found herself thinking as she washed her body. How could she have let Krasko get so close- close enough to hurt her? Maybe it was her new body? Maybe she wasn't as on her game as she had been in her past regenerations. Either way, she clearly hadn't been paying attention and new she had been hurt. And in a terrible way. What was it about her new body that made people think they could use it in such a way without her permission? She had been hurt a lot in the past- enemies old and new had hurt her, but never, _never_ , had any of them decided they wanted to do something like that to her- or him, depending on the way you look at it.

The Doctor wasn't stupid- she knew it was because she's a woman now. Men just couldn't help themselves in the presense of a woman. Of course, she hadn't been like that. He respeceted all woman- no matter their species. But obviously there were still some people out there who thought it their right to use her new body in such a despicable way. And she had been stupid enough to let him get close enough to do it. To bloody knock her unconscious. To undress her. Granted, she had put up a fight when she realised where he was going, but it hadn't been enough. She probably could have done more, but she hadn't. Stupidly, she was so lost in the moment and in her own fear that she hadn't done enough to get away. That weekend with Houdnini clearly hadn't paid off as well as she'd thought if she couldn't use his teachings to get out of a simple knot tied by some arrogant racist.

An angry beeping surrounded her and she stopped scrubbing her body for a moment to take in the fact that the lights in the bathroom had dimmed momentarily. The TARDIS was telling her something. She looked down at her body and noticed it was red raw and stinging where she'd apparently been using the loofah for the past God-knows how many minutes. With a sigh, she tossed the loofah to the bottom of the shower and soon joined it, sliding down the wall with defeat. When she was sat on the floor, she brought her knees up to her chest and rested her chin on them, wrapping her arms around her legs. Once again, the TARDIS beeped at her. This time, the noise was less angry and more sympathetic.

The Doctor barely managed a smile in response to her oldest friend's attempt at communicating with her.

The Doctor's vision was suddenly blurred and she blinked in confusion for a second, before feeling droplets trickle down both her cheeks. Hastily, she wiped away the teardrops, angry at herself for crying over a stupid human that had thought he could use her for his won benefit.

Getting up, the Doctor turned off the shower and stepped out of the cubicle and onto the warm rug that soaked up the water dripping from her body. She grabbed the white towel off the rack and wrapped it around her body. Taking another one, she used it to towel dry her hair as she exited the bathroom.

When she entered her bedroom, the first thing she noticed was a green, circular container in the center of her bed. She walked over to it and picked it up, a smile crossing her face. It was a cream that would heal any minor injuries, such as bruises or cuts.

"Thank you," she directed to the ceiling of her bedroom, along with a fond pat on the wall. The TARDIS made a humming noise in response.

Opening the container, she gathered some of the white cream onto her finger and used her mirror to guide her where to put the cream on her throat. Next, she removed her towel and applied the cream to any other injuries on her bodied- the cuts on her hips, and the rope burn on her wrists. When she was finished, she put the lid back on the container and places it on her draws.

_Knock knock knock._

The Doctor looked up and at her bedroom door, her hearts pounding erratically for unknown reasons.

"Doc? It's us. Graham, Ryan, and Yaz," a voice said from the other side. A breath of somewhat relieved air left the Doctor and she quickly went over to her wardrobe to find her regular outfit.

"One minute," she called to her friends, loud enough so they would hear her. After putting on her underwear, shirt, trousers, socks, shoes, and coat, she looked in the mirror and noticed her hair was wavy and still wet. She sighed, but decided it didn't matter as she was only going to be speaking to her friends. As she started to turn away from her mirror, she noticed that the bruising on her throat was already disappearing. She smiled and turned to the door.


	7. Chapter Seven

Graham, Yaz, and I were wandering the TARDIS halls for a while, going this way and that, yet seeming to get nowhere. All the halls looked the same- that one shade of honey coating all the metallic walls- and I briefly wondered how the Doctor knew her way around when it was all identical.

We shortly considered going back to the kitchen, only to turn around and find the hall we'd just come down was now a cul-de-sac. That would be followed by what we determined was a series of angry noises from the TARDIS. What we found out, was that the TARDIS wanted us to find the Doctor, but not just yet. Or maybe she just wanted us to get lost for her own amusement. Either way, it took us at least half an hour to forty minutes to come across a single door.

"Do you think this is the Doc's room?" Graham asked me and Yaz. I shrugged, looking at the weird circular patterns on the door where names usually go.

"Probably," I said, "this is the only door we've seen since we left the kitchen."

"Um, TARDIS?" Yaz started, unsure and looking around her at the hallway that looked like all the others except for the door. "Is this the Doctor's room?"

It was silent for a minute or so, and we looked at each other, defeated. Until a hum came from the walls and ceiling themselves, sounding more positive than the angry beeping we'd been subjected to earlier. I turned to Yaz and Graham, nudging them in the direction of the Doctor's door now that we knew it was hers.

Graham looked at the door, taking it in, in all its glory, and slowly raised a hand to it. He then knocked three times on the blue door and then we waited.

"Doc?" Graham said when there was no answer for a couple of seconds. "It's us, Graham, Ryan, and Yaz."

"One minute!" The Doctor called from the other side of the door. Me, Graham, and Yaz all collectively let out a sigh of relief at not only hearing she was in there, but that she was talking to us. She'd walked off so quickly earlier, I couldn't help but be shocked. Granted, we'd only known her for a few days so far, but she'd only ever been kind to us and had clearly made it her personal mission to keep us safe while she tried to get us home.

A couple minutes later, the Doctor's bedroom door flew open and she stood there, hair wet and a smile on her face. I was happy to see her smile, but, unlike before, this one seemed, not forced, but dull. The light behind her eyes had considerably faded, and her posture seemed stiff and aware, as if she was watching our every move to be certain we weren't going to do something unexpected.

"Hey, team," the Doctor said merrily, "how can I help ya?"

We all shared looks because, well, we hadn't thought this far. Yes, we wanted to speak to hr about what had happened, but how would we do that? Would she even open up to us now we were back on her ship where we had to abide by her rules?

Geaham and Yaz finally both looked at me because it had been me that had been so determined to speak to her in the first place.

"Um," I started, put on the spot. The Doctor's head tilted as she patiently waited for me to finish. "Well, it's just, you said you would tell us what happened at the warehouse. We're worried about ya, and we wanna know," I finished.

The Doctor straightened up, either remembering what she'd agreed to or preparing to send us away. Mentally, I prepared for the second one, too.

"I did say that, yes," the Doctor admitted slowly.

"So, um," I said, suddenly realising how farfetched this was. We'd only just met the woman (well, alien), we had no right to be asking her all sorts of questions. And she didn't have to answer them if she didn't want to.

Thankfully, the Doctor didn't let me answer my question. Instead, she stepped aside and gestured us into her room. Nodding, I entered and took a moment to look around at her amazing room. She had a king sized bed with Vincent van Gogh's _Starry Night_ displayed above it (it was probably the original, too); shelves lined the walls filled with all sorts of alien and human trinkets; a book shelf stood pressed against one of the walls, packed to the brim with books that looked both old and new; she had a simple looking vanity that had a few things on them, such as a tattered, old book that looked like the TARDIS, a colourful scarf that was draped over the mirror, a leather jacket thrown over the back of the chair, and a black and white picture of a young girl wearing a hat.

Her room was both normal and abnormal. For the Doctor, it was more normal than I'd expected.

When I finally pulled my gaze away from the many things in her room, I noticed she'd moved to sit on her bed with her legs crossed. When she noticed me looking, she patted the bed as invitation for me to sit. Not wanting to refuse, I carefully made my way over and sat down in front of her.

"Come on, you two," the Doctor said to Graham and Yaz, then patted the bed again. Graham and Yaz were more hesitant than me, but they eventually came over and sat on the bed with Yaz sitting next to the Doctor and Graham next to me.

Turning around, the Doctor looked at the _Starry Night_ painting above her bed.

"I was friends with Vincent, you know," she told us. "He warned me that my TARDIS was going to explode. Saw it in a vision," she continued, eyes turning sad, "poor man."

As much as I wanted to unpack the whole 'exploding TARDIS' thing, I knew that doing so would allow her to distract us from what we were really there for.

"So, Doctor-" I started.

"Yes, yes, I know," she interrupted, then put her head in her hands with a heavy sigh. Yaz put a hand on the Doctor's shoulder, and though I could tell the latter had tensed, she didn't shrug it off.

"You weren't wrong, Ryan," the Doctor said to me, looking up. I frowned, confused. "When you asked if he'd... well, he did," she continued as explanation. I was about to ask what she meant, but then I remembered. I'd asked if Krasko had raped her, and, back then, she'd thoroughly denied it.

"I was stupid and let him get too close. He had a neural restrictor in his brain, planted there by Stormcage when he was released, but he fought it long enough to knock me unconscious. He used my sonic to disable it," she made a disgusted face at that, and I could understand. From what Graham had said, she'd made her sonic herself. To have something that you use daily to help people, used for the opposite. To hurt someone, to hurt _you_. Well, I'd be disgusted, too, if it were me.

"I don't know how long I was out. Probably a while, though, if what you lot said is true," unable to sit still any longer, she got up from the bed and started pacing back and forth. "When I woke up, my hands were tied above my head to a table, and there was a rag in my mouth," she recalled, her eyes far off and distant. At the information, I turned away from her pacing and glared at the bed beneath me. If me, Yaz, and Graham had gotten there earlier, as soon as we realised she was even a minue late, then we could have prevented this. Could have helped her.

"I tried to get out, of course, but that's when Krasko showed himself," she crossed the room and went to sit at the vanity. When she did, she picked up the TARDIS book and held it in her hands, staring at it. In the reflection of the mirror, I could see tears in her eyes but she soon blinked those away. "And, um," she sniffled quietly, obviously hoping we wouldn't hear her, "well, you can guess what happened next. After that, he untied me and gave me my sonic back. Then he left."

It was one thing to theorise that it had happened, but it was another to hear about it and know it was true. I didn't know what to say.

Thankfully, Graham spoke up instead. "Doc, I'm... I'm sorry. I'm sorry you had to go through that," he told her sadly.

"I don't want your apologies," the Doctor said, looking at him in the refection if the mirror, "you wanted to know what happened and I told you. Anyway," she jumped up from the chair and placed the blue book down carefully, "I'm fine. See?" She gave a little twirl for emphasis. "Now, I'm sure you lot need some rest- you humans always do- so why don't you go find your rooms and we'll meet in the console rom tomorrow?"

She grabbed my arm and pulled me off the bed, depositing me by the door before I could even protest. The same was done with Yaz and Graham who protested just a little more than me.

"I'll get you lot home tomorrow. I promise. That's what you want isn't it?" The Doctor asked.

I opened my mouth to say something, but she spoke again before I could.

"Good! Now come on, the TARDIS will show you to your rooms, won't you Old Girl?" The Doctor questioned her ship. A humming noise came from all around us, but it didn't sound happy. If a ship humming could sound happy anyway. "See?" The Doctor said with a smile. She opened her bedroom door and shoved us all out, to which we protested.

"Hey!" Yaz exclaimed when she got a particularly harsh shove.

"See you tomorrow," the Doctor said and then closed her bedroom door.

A silence fell upon as we stared at the door in disbelief and beffudlement.

"What just happened?" I asked.

"The Doc kicked us out," Graham stated.

"I know that," I said, "it was rhetorical."

"Come on," Yaz said with a sigh, "like the Doctor said, we'll see her tomorrow."

Graham and I nodded and we followed Yaz back down the corridor after one more dejected look at the Doctor's bedroom door and the circular patterns on it.

\--

On the other side of the door, the Doctor sighed. Slowly, she slid down the door and placed her head in her hands, resting her elbows on her knees.

Looking up, she turned to the picture of Susan on her desk, "shut up," she said to it then went back to her thoughts.


	8. Chapter Eight

Graham would be lying if he said he'd gotten a decent nights sleep that night. In truth, he'd tossed and turned for hours, trying to fall asleep. In the end, he'd simply gotten out of bed with the realisation that he wouldn't get any sleep that night. It would be easy to blame it all on the fact that he missed Grace, or that the room was too much like home, but the truth was... he couldn't stop thinking of the Doctor and what she'd been through. Graham had lived a long life, that was true, but in all his time, the Doctor was easily the best person he'd ever met. She was kind, generous, funny, charismatic, a ball of energy in herself. And if Graham knew one thing, it was that she didn't deserve what had been done to her.

Graham had wandered around the apparently 'infinite' ship hoping to find a decent room to relax in. He'd quickly found the library which, he had to admit, was pretty impressive. Bordering showing off, really.

There was a podium at the start of the room with a book in a language he wouldn't be able to read so he'd walked passed it and headed for a random shelf full to the brim with books. Most of the books looked old, as if they'd each been read a hundred times over. Some shelves he'd passed had bottles of what looked like colourful gasses in them, but with the thought that it was none of his business, he'd continued on his way for a decent book.

Turning a corner, he'd come across the non-fiction section and picked out a book on "human plants", as the book said. With a raised eyebrow, he'd taken the book and headed over to an arm chair in the corner that looked really inviting.

Graham had slumped down into the chair, adjusting the cushions behind him until he was comfortable, then opened the book on plants to start reading. After a second thought, he remembered to put on his reading glasses so he could see the words properly with his old man eyes.

"Graham? Graham? Come on, Graham, wake up. We're finally home."

"'Finally'. You make it sound as though I purposely threw us off track."

"It _did_ take us like sixteen tries to get here."

Jerking awake, Graham looked around warily for a moment, expecting to see Grace stood above him and telling him breakfast was done, but instead he spotted Ryan, Yaz, and the Doctor there instead.

"Finally," the Doctor said, "you're a very heavy sleeper, you know?"

"Yeah, it's been said before," Graham muttered, moving the book from his chest and sitting up. He groaned when his back ached from the funny position he'd been sleeping in all night. Or whatever time he'd gone to sleep.

"Come on, then, Graham, we're in Sheffield now," the Doctor told him. She seemed happy enough in the way she said it, Graham mused, but her eyes told a different story. They looked sad and tired, and impossibly old for someone of her age. Well, he thought she was young, anyway. She looked it at least.

With that said, the Doctor headed for the exit, but stopped at the book podium that Graham had seen the night before. She hesitated for a second but recovered quickly and continued on her way out of the huge library. Sharing a look with Ryan and Yaz, Graham got up from the armchair he'd been slouched in and made to follow the Doctor.

* * *

When the small group reached the console room, the Doctor immediately got to work on piloting them. Somehow, this time, the rocking and terrible driving didn't seem  
to bother Graham anymore. He held onto one of the honey-coloured columns as the TARDIS rocked and jerked about, but couldn't find it in him to complain this time.

The TARDIS landed with a thump and a wheeze. Carefully, Graham peeled himself off the column and straightened his clothes which had been rustled during the journey.  
As he was doing this, the Doctor rushed passed him and straight to the doors. She flung them open and Graham heard a distinct sigh of relief.

"Sheffield," the Doctor announced, turning to them with a smile.

"We're home?" Ryan inquired doubtfully.

"Of course. Told you I would get you here, didn't I?" The Doctor asked.

"You've really outdone yourself, Doc," Graham joked, nudging her shoulder. Her smile fell and she stepped away slightly, immediately making Graham feel guilty. He'd  
almost forgotten what happened to her with how she'd been smiling, hiding her feelings.

Having not noticed the interaction, Ryan and Yaz left the TARDIS and looked around with matching grins.

"Man, it is so good to be home," Ryan said with relief. "No offense," he backtracked, turning to the Doctor whose smile had turned sad. She nodded in understanding.

"Thank you," Graham said to the Doctor. "For everything. Really."

"What will you do now?" Yaz asked her with concern.

"Oh, you know, back in the box. There's loads to see..." the Doctor answered, looking at the paint of her TARDIS.

"By yourself?" Continued Yaz, and suddenly Graham could see where she was going with this. She didn't want the Doctor to be by herself after what she'd been through and Graham agreed. They'd only seen a bit of it, but it was obvious the Doctor's coping mechanisms were unhealthy. Who knows what she'd get up to by herself.

The Doctor nodded in response to Yaz, "yeah, I suppose."

Yaz, Graham, and Ryan shared unsure looks.

"Do you wanna come for tea at mine?" Yaz questioned the Doctor.

The Doctor looked up from where she'd been inspecting her TARDIS, "are you sure? I mean, I wouldn't wanna intrude."

Graham was actually surprised at the vulnerability in her voice. He'd expected her to jump on the opportunity to go for tea at Yaz's.

"Yeah, of course. You won't be intruding, I'm inviting you."

"In that case," the Doctor stepped out of her TARDIS and shut the door behind her with a smile. She rushed up to Yaz and the two started off in the direction of the flats the TARDIS had parked in front of, the Doctor muttering things about tea at Yaz's.

Suddenly, the Doctor stopped and turned to Graham and Ryan when she realised they weren't following. "Are you coming? Are we all going for tea at Yaz's?" She asked.

Ryan shrugged, "she didn't invite us."

"Don't be daft," Yaz said, making Ryan smile widely, "'course you're invited."

"Alright then," he chuckled.

"Graham?" Yaz inquired, drawing the older man's attention. He looked away from the view.

"I think I'll nip home first, Yaz," he told her. Graham noticed the Doctor gave him a sympathetic look, but he chose not to comment on it when Ryan stepped forward.

"Shall I come with ya?" He asked.

"I'd rather do it alone," Graham told Ryan, then cast a look towards the Doctor only to see her now checking out Yaz's flat. "Take care of her while I'm gone, will ya?" He quietly asked Ryan. Ryan turned to look at the Doctor then back to Graham with a determined nod.

With a pat on his shoulder, Graham left Ryan and started heading back towards their home, mentally preparing himself for the unusual quietness he would find there.

"Come on," Yaz said and resumed her journey to the flats, the Doctor and Ryan following suit.


	9. Chapter Nine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The whole Arachnids In The UK thing kinda didn't happen in this story.

The Doctor looked around Yaz's flat with curiosity and excitement. It was a lovely little home and she could definitely see Yaz living there with her family. There were pictures in frames sitting idly on cabinets and hanging on the wall; all of them showed young Yaz and Sonya with their parents stood either beside them or behind them.

Resting by the wall, though, was a lot of rubbish. It seemed out of place in the mostly tidy home. In fact, the empty containers on the floor were the only sign of any junk lying about the house.

"You really like junk," noted the Doctor, leaning down to look at it.

"Ah," Yaz's dad said, "now, let me tell you about this."

"Don't get him started," Yaz groaned.

The Doctor made an apologetic face at Yaz and went back to eyeing the room as Yaz's dad went on about the junk he'd been collecting and Sonya harassed Ryan.

As the Doctor explored the room, she came back to another framed picture of the family. This one only showed Yaz's parents. It looked like it was their wedding day, with Hakim wearing a lovely suit and tie, and Yaz's mum wearing the most beautiful white dress.

"This is your mum, yeah?" The Doctor asked, pointing at the photo.

"Yeah," Yaz said.

"Where is she now?"

"She's at work, should be on her way home now, though," Yaz said, checking the time on her phone.

"When do you think she'll get here?" The Doctor wondered.

"Uh, not long now," Yaz frowned, the Doctor could see it in the reflection of the photo, "why?"

"Just wondering," the Doctor said, stepping away from the photo and going back to looking at the rest of the house.

"So, Doctor," Hakim spoke, drying a plate, "what kind of doctor are you?"

"Oh, well," the Doctor started, put on the spot. She was sure Yaz wouldn't appreciate her telling her father that she wasn't actually a proper Doctor. "A doctor of... medicine. Yeah, that's right, medicine."

Yaz and Ryan breathed audible sighs of relief.

"Really? Where do you work, I've never heard Yaz mention you before," Hakim continued.

"Well, I work at... Um," the Doctor shot Yaz a desperate look, trying and failing to remember any hospitals in or near Sheffield.

"I think that's enough now," Yaz cut in, thankfully spotting the Doctor's look, "we're just gonna go in my room now. Come on, you two."

The Doctor made no hesitation in following Yaz into her room, nor did Ryan, grateful for the escape from Sonya.

"Thanks, Yaz," the Doctor said as she sat on the edge of Yaz's comfy bed.

"I'm sorry about him," Yaz sighed, joining her on the bed, as did Ryan, "he just likes getting to know my mates better."

"I think that's lovely," the Doctor grinned, "at least he didn't slap me like an old friend of mine's mum did once."

"What? She seriously slapped you?" Ryan's eyes widened.

"Yep. But then again, I did accidentally bring my friend back late."

"What, like past her curfew?" Yaz guessed.

"Something like that, yeah," the Doctor shrugged and got up, picking up a book from Yaz's side. She flipped through the pages quickly, giving the book a read. "Good book."

"Oh, you've read it before?" Yaz asked.

"I have now," the Doctor said, putting it back on the side.

"You can't read a book in a few seconds," Ryan said.

"I can."

"But-"

"I'm home!" A cheery voice called out, the sound of a door shutting following soon after.

"Oh, that'll be me mum," Yaz informed, getting up from her seat on the bed. "Do you wanna meet her?"

"Of course!" The Doctor smiled widely, already at the bedroom door before Yaz had a chance.

Ryan simply got up, resigned to following them lest he be left alone in Yaz's room.

They left the bedroom once again and exited out into the dining room joined with the sitting room. Yaz's mum, Najia, was currently talking to Sonya who was glued to her phone. It was a one sided conversation, but Yaz's mum didn't seem to mind. She looked to be in a good mood.

"How was your first day at the new job?" Yaz questioned, giving her mum a huge hug.

"Oh, it went really well," her mum said, partially surprised by the hug she was receiving but returning it anyway with just as much enthusiasm.

"I'm so glad," Yaz said, pulling away with a smile. "I brought some friends back, by the way," she turned to Ryan and the Doctor, "this is Ryan, we went to primary school together, and that's the Doctor."

"The Doctor?" Repeated Najia, perplexed.

"Yep, that's me," the Doctor gave a warm wave, excited to meet Yaz's mum. "It's a pleasure to meet you, you made a very awesome human being."

"Uh, thank you?" Yaz's mum said slowly whilst Yaz and Ryan shook their heads.

"I think me and my friends are just gonna go now," Yaz decided, ushering Ryan and the Doctor towards the door.

"Uh, well it was lovely to meet you, anyway," Najia said.

"Actually, Yaz, is it all right if I have a word with your mum first? I just have something I want to ask," the Doctor said, excited expression making way to a nervous one.

"Uh, I guess so..." Yaz slowly said, sending Ryan a questioning look only to receive a shrug in response.

"In private," the Doctor added to Najia who merely nodded in confusion.

"Let's go in here," Najia said and led the Doctor through to hers and Hakim's room.

It was spacious for a room in a flat and had a double bed pushed up against a wall with bedside tables on either side of it. On the tables, more family pictures resided. There was a wardrobe and a chest of draws, with a floor length mirror beside the draws. A window was above the draws, giving a clear view of Sheffield.

The Doctor spent a moment at the window, looking out down on to the street below where her TARDIS was parked. She could very faintly hear the Old Girl in her mind, comforting her, even with the distance between them.

"What was it you wanted to speak to me about?" Najia questioned, taking a seat on the edge of her bed. "Was it about Yaz?"

"No, not about Yaz," the Doctor sighed, "she's brilliant, but it's not her. It's me, actually."

"I'm not quite sure I follow," Najia admitted.

The Doctor went and took a seat next to Najia.

"I know we've only just met an' all, but I thought you might be able to help me with something," the Doctor started, picking at a stray thread on her coat. "I mean, you might not be able to and that's fine, I just couldn't think of who else to talk to at the moment. I've only just become me and I don't have many people I can talk to anymore. I just lost Bill, Nardole, and Missy, so they're out of the question. I can't talk to Yaz because I don't want to upset her, and I don't know why but i can't talk to Ryan or Graham."

"I'll try and help as much as I can," Najia said, going to place a hand on the Doctor's arm only for it to be rebuffed so she placed it in her lap. "Just tell me what it is, love."

"Um, well, fairly recently," the Doctor started, swallowing a lump in her throat, "that being yesterday, something happened. I was with Yaz, Ryan, and Graham, but I went off on my own and came across a... guy. Just some ordinary bloke, but, uh, something happened. He, uh, well, he just, uh, took advantage of me, is what Ryan said. Well, he used another term, but I don't like that word. Hate it."

"Sorry, Doctor, are you sayin' this bloke you met raped you?" Najia whispered, tears in her eyes.

The Doctor nodded, a wince crossing her face at the word.

"Oh, you poor love. Can I..." she left the question open, gesturing towards the Doctor in an offer for a hug.

Reluctantly the Doctor nodded and allowed Najia to pull her in for a warm hug.

"My mum used to hug me like this," the Doctor whispered, burying her face into Najia's shoulder, "at least, I think she used to. It was a very long time ago now, I can't really remember."

Pulling away, Najia wiped her tears away and reached to wipe away the wetness on the Doctor's cheeks where she'd tried and failed to get rid of her own tears.

"I'm so sorry that happened to you, love. Have you reported it to the police? They might be able to do something, you know, put him away," Najia said.

"No, I haven't. I don't want to," the Doctor admitted, "even if I did, he's long gone now. Won't be seeing him again as far as I'm concerned. I just wanted to ask you something."

"Oh, yeah," Najia remembered the sole reason for the Doctor asking to speak to her in the first place, "what was it, love?"

"I just wanted to know, you know, if there's any way to make the pain go away?"

"Physical pain, love?"

"No, the emotional and mental pain. I've been through a lot in my long life, but never anything like this. I don't know why it hurts so much," the Doctor confided, shaking her head with a lingering feeling of weakness in her chest. She was the Doctor, the Destroyer of Worlds, the Oncoming Storm, she wasn't supposed to let things like this affect her. So why was it?


End file.
